Hero in a Thousand Ways
by foreverfallingfast
Summary: A new hero arises by the name of Ike--and here is his descent into madness. Pairings: Ike/Elincia, mentions of Ike/Soren, brief Oscar/Kieran, if you squint.


AN::

SOOOOOO HERE WE GO, FOLKS. Here is my first attempt at fanfiction-ing. See, I was browsing the Fire Emblem wiki the other day and I was reading the bit on archetypes. THUS, this was born.

Please tell me if I've gotten any of my facts wrong.  
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There were so many times, _so very many times_, that Ike didn't really know who he was or where he was or what his enemies were. All he knew was that his father was dead and now _oh father, Greil, Gawain, why oh why now I'm alone, Marquess of Pherae, Grado has invaded, father, dead, restore Crimea Renais Pherae Ostia Caelin. _It's a drive he doesn't realize he ever had, an all-consuming purpose that kept him going. He was going to _kill _him, that bastard that killed his father. That murderer would not live; Ike would kill that _Black Knight, Marquess Laus, Nergal, Vigarde, Lyon? Lyon, why? _It's a constant stream of names and places that Ike has never heard of. He asks Soren, who shrugs and directs Ike to the libraries of Sienne to find the answers to his questions. There are no texts that tell him what he needs to know.

But that was really to be expected.

After a while, Ike starts to lose himself. He's mercenary, commander, general, hero. And with that last title, something in him splinters. He's _Ike, _he's _Ephraim, _he's _Hector, _he's _Eliwood, _he's _Roy, _he's _Marth,_ but really he's no one at all.

(Sometimes in battle Ike will look down at his sword and wonder why it's there, why it's not an axe or a lance but he shakes it off because he's a hero and this is natural.)

Elincia is truly beautiful, he realizes over time. She's good and kind and generous and faithful. He's not sure if he loves her, but how could he not because she's _Elincia Tana L'Arachel Eirika Lyndis Fiora Florina Ninian Lilina Guinivere Sheeda, _and she's the most incredible thing he's ever seen and they're surely destined to be together.

(But sometimes he'll watch Soren watching him and Ike will ache a bit inside because Ike is _Ephraim Hector Eliwood Roy Marth,_ and Soren is _Innes Lyon Eliwood Hector Marth Roy. _The names all mix together and it's incredibly confusing but it doesn't matter because it's all just noise blending and intertwining and merging and surely they're meant to be together.)

He loses Elincia, of course he does, because he's nothing and she is _Elincia Eirika Lyndis _and she deserves better, she deserves her _Geoffrey Seth Kent. _Ike goes back to Greil's Retreat to await new jobs but even there the insanity follows.

(_How dare you leave them you owe them you have a duty to protect them to rebuild Crimea Renais Lycia you can't just forget that you belong to them THEY OWN YOU.)_

Ike watches Rolf growing more skilled every day under the tutelage of Shinon, and somehow they're not just Rolf and Shinon but they're _Gordin and Jeorge and Wil and Rath. _Oscar seems downcast, so strange for the normally cheerful paladin, but they all just assume he's worried for Kieran. _What's Abel without Cain, who is Kent without his Sain, how does a Kyle live if he won't see his Forde again?_ Ike spars daily with Mia, who stayed, though if truth be told she might as well be _Marisa, Karla _for all he knows. It's embarrassing, but sometimes when Ike sees Rhys he expects a _Lena, Natasha _to walk by.

Ike almost doesn't believe that he's going insane until he sees Soren walks by and it isn't just the now-familiar mantra of _Innes Lyon Eliwood Hector Marth Roy go to him he's yours _but a confused _Ewan, Erk, Merric? _that just doesn't fit into his heart.

It's all too much and he trains until he thinks he's going to break and he's much stronger now, so much stronger, but his heart has gone somewhere and he's sure that it will come back with his sanity.

The Mercenaries go under contract to Count Bastian of Fayre, once again protecting his homeland. He is glad to have the chance to rescue Lucia (_Florina, L'Arachel) _because she's an old friend.

(It's a brand new war, and Ike doesn't think that he can stand it. But because he's _Ike Ephraim Hector Eliwood Roy Marth _there's no escaping, not now, not ever.)

Ike goes through the motions of leading once more, and so many people notice that he's different, changed, but they chalk it up to stress and leave him be.

(All but Soren, who just watches him slip and slip every day until there's nothing left.)

Ike faces his enemies across the bridge, it's Daein again, though he thought that the new king might turn things around. _Zephiel, that jackass, it was because of the hero and his friends that he even was able to ascend the throne._

He clutches Ragnell tightly in his hand, and despite the fact that he has wielded the sacred blade before, it feels almost as odd as Ettard had. When he thinks of his blade he thinks _Rapier, Reginleif, Wolf Beil,_ when he thinks of blessed weapons he yearns for _Falchion, Siegmund, Durandal, Armads. _

Soren briefs Ike on troop movements before every battle and the map blurs before his eyes. _Tellius—Crimea, Daein, Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis, Kilvas, Begnion? No, no. Magvel—Renais, Frelia, Grado, Carcino, Jehanna, Rausten. Or maybe—Elibe? Lycia, Bern, Etruria, Ilia, Sacae._

When all is said and done, Ike has almost learned to cope. All the memories that bombard him daily have faded into the background and almost completely gone away. However, Ike is forever changed. He is still caught unawares at times—when he walks in on Oscar and Kieran and Oscar is blushing and Ike thinks of how Kyle just won't stop criticizing Forde for everything and how he blushes when he's angry. Titania seems to shift constantly between male and female, young and old, serious and…well, more serious.

Ike defeats the Black Knight and it's almost too easy this time—(Nergal—Lord Elbert was only a tool; Fomortiis—the king of Renais was just too strong an obstacle). After the barrier comes down, Ike goes to continue the climb and hesitates beside General Levail's dead body. A wave of greif washes over him as he sees the young man lying so still, his idol's name still lingering on his lips. _Fluorspar, I'm sorry. Uhai, you never should have been manipulated so. You were a good man._

He nearly cries out in despair when they reach the next level of the tower and are greeted with an entire _army _of dragons. Horrible memories swirl through his mind and—_Oh Elimine what have I done? NINIAN! Red dragon, fire, agony, burning, Myrrh, missing, her father dead, Caer Pelyn, five dead dragons and their Demon King._

In the end, the battle is not that difficult at all—Shinon is almost giddy (or as giddy as Shinon ever gets) over his Double Bow, Oscar and Ilyana could have taken the entire army with Oscar's combination of the Wishblade and Dragonfoe and Ilyana's Rexbolt spell, and the laguz royals continue to show off their incredible strength. Ike hangs back distractedly, more shaken by his delusions than ever before.

It's an emotional experience, facing a goddess and knowing that you must kill her. The army is in shambles: horses, pegasi, and wyverns rearing, his soldiers trying to calm their animals and each other. Rhys tumbles to his knees, clutching at his blue robes, his long blonde hair, shouting "_Oh, St. Elimine, why?"_

As blue flames surround Ike and he deals the final blow, he feels hollow. Centuries of politics and responsibilities threaten to suffocate him. He knows all too well what comes know. He has lifetimes of experience at his disposal.

It is that knowledge that drives him to leave. Soren and even Ranulf offer to accompany him, but he turns them both down. Ike knows that Soren has suffered these past years because of Ike's descent into madness, and that the Branded youth has grown closer to Stefan, has come to see the other man as a sort of guardian. Soren joins Stefan in the Grann Desert, but continues to write Ike as often as possible. Ranulf's offer is halfhearted from the start. All know that his place is alongside the new king of Gallia, Skrimir. Ike leaves alone and wanders, searching for the lands that haunt his consciousness.

However, every journey leads him back to his homeland; every step echoes with disappointment, responsibility, and betrayal—and Ike is forever returning because he cannot leave his land and his people, because he is _Ike, Ephraim, Hector, Eliwood, Marth, Roy, _and he is a hero in a thousand ways.


End file.
